We had already lost a day in Kyiv due to our flights being changed so we were keen to get to the airport and begin our travels. Wizz Air had advised us that we could not check in online due to the flight changes and that we must get to the airport 2 1/2 hours early. When we got to the airport we navigated through to where we were supposed to be, joined a fast-growing queue and then waited…..and waited.

It felt as though Wizz air had told us to be early but had not advised their staff of this. By the time two women finally came to the check-in desks, the line was full of tired and impatient people.

When we got to the desk Scott began the check-in process (speaking in German) but it soon became apparent that there was a problem. He was given a ticket and we were told to wait at the side while he traversed back through the busy airport to another information desk to sort out the issue.

Teresa and Michele worried as we watched the queue grow smaller and the time that we needed to get to our flight get closer. When Scott finally came back we were finally able to go back up to the check-in desk and send our luggage off.

Scott finally explained that in order to check-in at the airport itself, you must prepay for this. Because we could not check-in our flights online we had no choice, but Wizz Air did not recognise this and Scott had to pay €102 extra just for this experience. Why anyone would pay extra for the horrible experience of waiting in line, over an easy webcheck-in is beyond us. No doubt there will be follow-up correspondence! This is the 2nd time that Teresa and Scott have experienced this scam. Do not fly Wizz Air!

One big plus for us is that when we got to immigration, because we were all travelling on our Polish passports, we got to pass the long lines of non-European passport carriers and wizz through.

There was another long wait at security again, and they had began to call our flight. Once we finally got to our gate we got herded like cattle onto a bus and driven out to our plane. We then had the pleasure of waiting another fifteen to twenty minutes in the crush of the bus until we were freed to board the plane.

On the plane we had to wait for another 30 to 40 minutes so all passengers were boarded … their lateness was due to the utter mismanagement of the process by this airline.

We had a comfortable flight in the last row and loved the menu which encouraged the purchase of multiple alcohol products per individual.

Kiev airport was easy to navigate and catching UBER to our AirBnb was just as easy. Driving through Kiev at night was full of bright lights, advertisements and cars ….. and more cars!

The apartment is in a quiet and safe part of Kiev (especially since there are soldiers on patrol everywhere). We are on the third level up six flights of well designed stairs. The apartment is spacious, well appointed and warm. Our host, Svitlana, around Teresa’s age, used her smart phone and google translate to communicate with us.

She had a bottle of champagne, chocolates and a fridge stocked with food waiting for our stay.

We decided to stay close for dinner and went to the restaurant next to our apartment called La Veranda. The restaurant offered a bit of a fine dining experience and we were given a cosy table by the window. Teresa ordered braised venison with ravioli and Scott had braised hare with risotto. Michele chose the mushroom soup with dumplings. It was all deliciously washed down with vodka and beer. We were going to order a bottle of wine but noticed that the cheapest was $57 Australian.

On the way home we stopped by the mini-mart and noticed that the vodka was the equivalent of $6 for 500ml of good vodka. Bargain!

The day of waiting was finally over and slumber was upon us. Надобраніч!